Weird Things We Can't Ignore About Justin And Hailey Bieber's Relationship

In 2009, Justin Bieber went from being a young kid with a guitar and a YouTube channel to one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. He's been through countless eras in his career, from his floppy-haired look to his high-profile relationship with Selena Gomez to his adopted bad boy persona. However, now that he's married Hailey Bieber, the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin, and is the father to son Jack Blues, he seems to have found peace.

Some Beliebers have noted how much happier Justin seems these days, partly due to the loved up social media posts he's published. In honor of their fifth wedding anniversary, Justin shared a sweet Instagram tribute to his wife in September 2023, writing, "To the most precious, my beloved. ... I know from the depths of my soul down to my bones that this journey with you will only exceed our wildest expectations." Alongside the heartfelt caption, there were several snaps of the celebrity couple together.

Alas, there are others who suspect something might be up with Justin and Hailey Bieber's relationship. From the unclear timeline of their coupling to vague hints at past rifts and cryptic Instagram messages, there's a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to this duo.

Before "Jailey" was a thing, the on-again, off-again relationship between Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez fueled gossip columns for the better part of seven years. The "Baby" singer called the Disney Channel star his celebrity crush back in July 2009, and by December 2010, rumors of "Jelena" began circulating. Justin and Gomez finally confirmed their relationship in May of the following year, only to break up 17 months later, get back together in 2013, and break up again in November 2014.

In late 2015, Justin and Hailey Bieber got together. They split after just a couple months. After three years of dating other people, Justin and Gomez gave their relationship one final try in December 2017. However, it only lasted five months before "Jelena" was splitsville for good. 

As a source dished to E! News in May 2018, the "Lose You to Love Me" songstress had "completely moved on" from Justin and was "not interested in getting back together with him anytime soon." While it took some time for him and Hailey to find each other again, fans have been hung up on the perplexing timeline of their relationship.

Given the on-and-off nature of Justin Bieber's romance with Selena Gomez, and the many women he dated during those off periods, it's perhaps not surprising that rumors of infidelity have hovered over his relationship with Hailey Bieber. Some fans have even wondered whether the "Yummy" singer cheated with his current wife while he was with Gomez. The theory actually isn't too far-fetched, seeing as how Justin and the "Only Murders in the Building" star took to social media to accuse one another of being unfaithful after their second split.

Hailey has denied the allegations a handful of times, even defending herself on a 2022 episode of Alex Cooper's podcast "Call Her Daddy." When asked if she had ever been romantically linked to Justin while he was with Gomez, the model replied, "I can say period, point blank. I was never with him when he was in a relationship with anybody."

For as long as there have been love triangles, there has been an audience to indulge in the drama. However, it seems like the relationship between Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber isn't as fraught as some would like to believe. Gossip columns dug into the supposed feud between the two women over the years, citing Instagram comments as shade they've thrown at one another. But it seems, at least for now, that Gomez and Hailey have squashed any beef they might have had.

Hailey and Justin Bieber first met back in 2009 at the "Today" show when Rhode founder was 13 and the pop star was 15. They would go on to become friends, and by 2015, their friendship turned romantic. While the "Intentions" crooner dated several women in the six years before he and Hailey started dating, her relationship history is far shorter. In fact, Justin was her first publicly confirmed boyfriend.

After things fizzled between the two, she was briefly linked to Drake, Jordan Clarkson, Cameron Dallas, and Shawn Mendes. However, none of these relationships (if you could even call them that, as they each lasted less than a month) were publicly confirmed. Then, Hailey and Justin struck up a romance, and the rest is history.

While on Kendall Jenner's podcast, "Zaza World Radio," for a Valentine's Day special (via E! News) in February 2019, Hailey admitted that she hasn't had a lot of relationship experience outside of her husband. "It's definitely scary to be this young and be married," she said. When asked how things have changed for her since tying the knot, Hailey remarked, "I think if you're talking about me specifically, somebody who was never really in any serious relationships. ... I've always been so independent." It took her some time, she said, to get used to cohabitating and considering another person in her decision making.

Hailey and Justin Bieber often keep their cards close to their chests. While they've been honest about some of the struggles they've had in their relationship, they've left out details that have left fans speculating. What's clear, though, is something happened between Hailey and Justin early on that was damaging enough to second guess getting married.

Both the singer and model spoke on the podcast "In Good Faith with Chelsea and Judah Smith" in April 2024, during which Hailey alluded to a mistake she made before they got back together in 2018. "When we were younger, [Justin was] telling me to my face, 'I really do think you could be the person that I marry and someone I can really see myself having a family with,'" she began. "And then I did something that really hurt him."

Hailey never elaborated on what she did exactly, but the socialite outlined how her "immature" and "stupid" actions nearly drew a line in the sand. "There was really one solidified moment where I think it damaged the idea of me for you," she said, speaking directly to Justin. Instead of comforting his wife or denying it, he replied, "Yeah I think so, too."

Hailey and Justin Bieber have sparked split rumors more than a few times, and their lack of PDA has been a recurring topic of online speculation. While the two are now a little more lovey-dovey in IG posts and while out and about, it took a long time to get there. As it turns out, Hailey had an issue with PDA when she first got back together with Justin — and yes, this drummed up a lot of chatter.

The model opened up about wanting to keep displays of affection out of the public eye in a 2020 interview with Vogue Italia (via People). "For a long time I couldn't do it: I didn't kiss him in public," the model stated. "I didn't like the idea of ​​people watching us at certain moments." Their relationship was — and continues to be — highly publicized, so it's easy to see where Hailey was coming from.

But the feeling didn't go away after they tied the knot. As Hailey told Elle in 2021, "In the beginning of our marriage, I just wanted to hide." She felt like she couldn't escape the constant scrutiny, adding, " I was like, 'Can there be no anonymity? Can I have any of it back?'"

The "Sorry" singer has been forthcoming about his mental health issues, addiction history, diagnoses of Lyme disease and Ramsay Hunt syndrome, and run-ins with the law. But there was a point in his relationship with Hailey Bieber that almost sent her packing. While it's still not totally clear as to what really happened to Justin Bieber at this point, his wife has spoken openly about how she struggled to stick things out with him during "the hardest time in [her] life" while on the "In Good Faith" podcast back in April 2024.

Hailey said she leaned on her mom quite a bit during their rough patch. "One particular time when we were in Brooklyn ... I was crying and I was like, 'I just can't do it,'" she recalled. Hailey recalled telling her mom, "'There is no way that I'm going to be able to do this if it's going to be like this forever.'" While Hailey felt helpless in the situation, her mom convinced her to stick things out with Justin. "She was like, 'It's going to pass and you're going to be fine and he's going to be healthy, and we're here for you,'" Hailey continued. The model went on to say that she couldn't leave him in his time of need.

On top of his mental health struggles and dependence on substances, Justin Bieber used to also have, as he put it during an interview with Vogue in February 2019, "a legitimate problem with sex." Back in 2017, the pop star had already become sober and had been taking better care of his mental health when he decided to live a celibate life to feel closer to God. As Justin put it, "He doesn't ask us not to have sex for him because he wants rules and stuff. He's like, I'm trying to protect you from hurt and pain."

The "As I Am" singer went on to detail his perspective on sex, saying that some people's reasons for sleeping together might be driven by insecurity or unhappiness. "I wanted to rededicate myself to God in that way because I really felt it was better for the condition of my soul," Justin remarked. By the time he and Hailey Bieber got back together, he had already gone a year without sex. "I believe that God blessed me with Hailey as a result," the star remarked. "There are perks. You get rewarded for good behavior."

Taking the plunge can be scary, and Justin Bieber was nervous about committing himself to Hailey Bieber before he popped the question. They were young and had only been back together for a month before they became engaged, so a little apprehension is probably more than justified. However, Justin and Hailey had known each other for nearly a decade by the time they got married, so the pop star probably felt a little more assured he was making the right call than if the two had just met.

While appearing on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in January 2020, Justin recounted how he felt before he decided to ask Hailey to be his wife. "I was extremely nervous," he shared. The two had previously discussed marriage and Justin was fairly confident that Hailey would say yes, but his more pressing concerns were rooted in whether he would be capable of remaining faithful to her. "I think I was more nervous about, 'Am I gonna make this commitment ... and be able to honor what I say?'" Justin remarked. He didn't take this next step in their relationship lightly, adding, "That's a serious commitment when you say you're gonna love someone for better, for worse and be faithful." Ultimately, Justin decided that he would be willing to make this commitment to Hailey, but it certainly wasn't without some hesitation.

In July 2018, news of Hailey and Justin Bieber's engagement caught fans off guard. Things seemed to be moving fast, to say the least: The two, who were still in their early 20s, had only reconciled a few weeks prior. While on vacation in the Bahamas, the "One Less Lonely Girl" singer popped the question, and later shared the news on Instagram. "You are the love of my life Hailey Baldwin and I wouldn't want to spend it with anybody else," Justin wrote in the caption. By September of the same year, the two tied the knot in an intimate courthouse ceremony.

In her aforementioned 2021 Elle interview, the beauty mogul acknowledged that she was definitely below the median age of most married women. "I was married when I was 21, two months before I turned 22, which is insanely young," Hailey said. Justin, meanwhile, was just 24. "[It] sounds almost ridiculous when you say it out loud," she added. She did go on to suggest that their lives in the limelight made them grow up fast. "We have both lived enough life to know that's what we wanted," she stated.

It's been said that the first year of marriage is the hardest, and that definitely seemed to be the case for Hailey and Justin Bieber who had been back together just three months by the time they tied the knot. The couple also moved in together for the first time shortly after their wedding, meaning they were also learning to cohabitate.

While Hailey has spoken about her favorite parts of being married to Justin, she's also been honest about their tougher moments. "The thing is, marriage is very hard," she said during their 2019 joint Vogue interview. "That is the sentence you should lead with. It's really effing hard." Justin ended up leaving a therapeutic retreat early, which was intended to help him identify and change negative thoughts and actions, as he wasn't comfortable with the process. Shortly after, he and Hailey decided to see a marriage counselor who had been recommended by their friend.

But what was going on in their marriage that warranted professional help? According to Justin during his conversation with GQ in May 2021, he was processing trauma and felt like he was walking "on eggshells." The singer said, "There was just [a] lack of trust. There [were] all these things that you don't want to admit to the person that you're with, because it's scary."

Divorce rumors sprung up around Hailey and Justin Bieber when it seemed like they were taking jabs at one another on social media. On December 30, 2024, the beauty founder shared a TikTok video made by content creator eyegotthyme, whose real name is  Bernard Joseph Velasquez. "You're not well and it's okay," Velasquez says in the clip. "You recognize every day when you wake up, 'F***, this is the reality that I made for myself.'" Alongside the video, Hailey wrote, "Me to all of you on the internet." 

While she didn't elaborate, many fans assumed this was the model's way of addressing all of the chatter regarding the state of her relationship with Justin. As TikToker and podcaster Sloan Hooks noted earlier that month, both just so happened to pick some eyebrow-raising songs for their IG posts. For example, Justin used "B.E.D." by Jacquees, a song about hooking up with someone without strings, in a Story; Hailey later posted a snippet of SZA's "What Do I Do," which is sung from the POV of someone who had been cheated on. Around that time, Justin shared another user's photo of two little kids and wrote, "Coparenting is failing....like tf." 

In an interview featured in the July 2024 issue of W Magazine, Hailey noted how hurtful all of the noise surrounding her marriage could be. "People have made me feel so bad about my relationship since day one. ... It's like people don't want to believe that we're happy," she said.

Fans who follow the power couple on Instagram know Hailey and Justin Bieber live an incredibly lavish life. Some followers have also picked up on the "Mood" singer's ever-changing list of followed accounts. January 2025 saw Justin hit "unfollow" on several former associates, including Usher, his former managers, and his ex-bodyguard.

In addition, the pop star also unfollowed Stephen Baldwin, his father-in-law. Some fans wondered if unfollowing his wife's father meant something like a looming divorce or feud in the family. Shortly after, Hailey Bieber dropped her maiden name Baldwin from her Instagram profile, which seemed to confirm the latter.

But nothing could've prepared Beliebers for the unfollow that came next: Hailey Bieber. Despite continuing to post sweet snaps of himself with his wife over the holidays and after, fans were quick to notice Hailey's name was no longer on Justin's followed accounts list. On January 21, the singer took to the platform to announce he'd been hacked. "Someone went on my account and unfollowed my wife," he wrote on an Instagram Story. "S*** is getting suss out here." While he's since re-followed Hailey, it hasn't kept fans from speculating over what has really been going on behind the scenes between the A-list couple.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues or mental health, please contact the relevant resources below:

• Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
• Reach theCrisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.